Thursday, November 29, 2012

C'mon guys, I keep thinking that you're going to get it. You can't still be holding on to that nostalgia for the 1950s when separate was equal, everyone was heterosexual and nice girls didn't work. I'm not talking to all of you. Just the ones in the party that runs the House of Representatives. Looking at the newly-announced Republican House committee chairs -- all of them very, very white men -- I'm wondering why this hasn't sunk in at all?

I hoped the sea of white faces at the Republican convention was something maybe out of your control.

There are good cops, there are bad cops, and then there are cops that remind you what it really means to be a public servant. On Nov. 14, NYPD officer Lawrence DePrimo spotted a homeless man wandering around Times Square barefoot, his feet covered in blisters. DePrimo went to a shoe store, purchased a pair of leather boots, and brought them back for the man to wear. "I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let’s put them on and take care of you," he said. Armed with a smartphone camera, Arizona tourist Jennifer Foster captured the moment when DePrimo knelt down next to the man to help him put the shoes on, and the photo has gone viral, with almost 320,000 Facebook "likes" as of Thursday morning. DePrimo told The New York Times that he didn't catch the homeless man's name, but "he was the most polite gentleman I had met." He says he's kept the receipt from his purchase in his pocket to remind him "that sometimes people have it worse."

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced who will chair all of the major House committees in the next Congress. And it turns out they all have something in common besides party affiliation: they're all white men.

There isn't a single woman or minority included in the mix of 19 House committee chairs announced Tuesday -- a stark reality for a party desperate to appeal to women and minorities after both groups overwhelmingly rejected Republicans just weeks ago in the presidential election.

Ever wondered how we ended up with this cobbled-together immigration system?
Drawing on a mix of sources, including Guarding the Golden Door, here are the 23 defining moments in immigration policy history that helped create the system we know today:

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The garment factory in Bangladesh where a weekend fire killed at least 112 people had been making clothes for Wal-Mart without the giant U.S. retailer's knowledge, Wal-Mart said.

Wal-Mart said the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory was no longer authorized to produce merchandise for Wal-Mart but that a supplier subcontracted work to it "in direct violation of our policies."

"Today, we have terminated the relationship with that supplier," America's biggest retailer said in a statement Monday. "The fact that this occurred is extremely troubling to us, and we will continue to work across the apparel industry to improve fire safety education and training in Bangladesh."

Use of the filibuster to stall legislation -- when the minority party refuses to end debate on a bill unless 60 senators vote to do so -- has escalated in recent years, rising from a rarity to the norm. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been signaling his readiness to curb the tactic, often noting that he has faced 385 filibusters during his leadership while Lyndon Johnson had to deal with only one when he ran the Senate.

'Fix The Debt' CEOs Underfund Employee Retirement, Demand Cuts For Elderly
As the debate heats up over whether to cut Medicare, Social Security or Medicaid in order to maintain federal spending and corporate tax breaks, companies with well-compensated CEOs who preside over underfunded employee pension funds invite a new round of questions about the motives, and methods, of the CEOs pressuring Congress and the White House to cut programs for the middle class.

The companies in arrears on their pension funds include defense giant Boeing, which paid CEO Jim McNerney $23 million last year; Honeywell, where CEO Dave Cote earned more than $55 million in compensation in 2011; and AT&T, which docked CEO Randall Stephenson's pay by $2 million last year after he orchestrated a failed takeover of T-Mobile. The $2 million penalty meant that Stephenson made only $22 million total that year, as opposed to the $24 million he would otherwise have been paid.

Boeing, Honeywell, and AT&T represent just three of the dozen companies who are cited in the IPS report as having CEOs with individual retirement assets totaling more than $20 million each, despite the fact that their companies have underfunded pension funds for their employees.

If each of these 12 CEOs were to convert his retirement accounts into annuities at age 65, the report shows each would receive a monthly check for at least $110,000 for life. By contrast, the average montly Social Security payment was $1,237 in October. Still, the CEOs argue that Social Security benefits are too generous.

They’re doing it on the White House’s “We the People” website, taking advantage of a pledge to review any petition that gains at least 25,000 signatures.

Texas was far ahead of the pack with 117,373 digital signatures on its petition by midday Monday.
“Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union,” the petition states.

As Bangladesh prepared to mourn the deaths of more than 100 clothing factory workers, firefighters battled a blaze at another apparel factory near Dhaka on Monday.

Police and witnesses said the new fire, at a 10-story clothing factory in the suburb of Uttara, began Monday morning, and firefighters took about four hours to bring it under control.

Police reported 110 deaths in the fire at Tazreen Fashion at Ashulia. All the bodies were handed over to relatives, except for 59 charred ones that will be buried under government supervision after DNA samples are extracted.

The country has around 4,500 garment factories that make clothes for brands including Tesco, Wal-Mart, JC Penney, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Kohl's and Carrefour. The sector earned $19 billion in the financial year that ended in June 2012.

The state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha recently reported that fires kill about 6,000 people every year in Bangladesh.﻿

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

L-Tryptophan: Does Turkey Really Make You Sleepy?
Every year at Thanksgiving, most of us engage in an annual rite of passage: stuffing ourselves mercilessly with turkey, cranberry sauce, and pie. Not a bad way to spend a Thursday. But inevitably, in that hour between feeling so full you think you'll explode and gearing up for round two with the leftovers, your relatives can find you conked out on the couch.

Along comes Aunt Mildred with her armchair scientific explanation. You're tired, she tells you, because the turkey you just ate is laden with L-tryptophan. Tryptophan, she says, makes you tired.

So is your aunt right? Is the turkey really what's to blame for Thanksgiving sleepiness? The experts helped WebMD sort out the facts.

What is L-Tryptophan?

L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid. The body can't make it, so diet must supply tryptophan. Amino acids are building blocks of proteins. Foods rich in tryptophan include, you guessed it, turkey. Tryptophan is also found in other poultry, meat, cheese, yogurt, fish, and eggs.

Rocks were thrown through their windows, car tires were slashed, and racial
taunts were shouted by passing motorists. One day, their 6-year-old son came
home from school asking why his classmates said they couldn't play with him
because he was black.

Fed up, the family fled the city a few weeks ago and moved out of the county
to Corona, said the father, who asked that his name not be used out of fear for
his safety. His wife reported the incidents to the Orange County Human Relations
Commission, which tracks hate crimes in county.

In response, the commission said it intends to share the story with local
politicians and conduct so-called listening sessions to gauge the experience of
African Americans in Orange County.

"It just illustrates that even amid our really wonderful community, life is
different for some people," said Rusty Kennedy, the executive director of the
commission.

Monday, November 19, 2012

While Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to reconnect with your relatives, if you’re like me, a lefty, who comes from a conservative family, this reunion can also be a source of great stress. This year is no exception; just weeks after a Presidential election, the likelihood of a political conversation is greater than ever. Here are 10 ways to deal with your conservative relatives during the holidays:1. Remember That Your Side Won.......click on link to view the rest of them =D

Friday, November 16, 2012

A source passes along this proposal of a DREAM Act alternative, called the “Achieve Act,” from a Republican senator. A few key points: eligible non-legal immigrants would have to get a college degree of some sort or serve for four years in the military. They would then get a four-year work visa. After that, they would be able to apply for a permanent visa. Eligible young adults would have had to be 14 or younger when they arrived in this country, and be no older than 28 (or in some circumstances) 32. The details of the Achieve Act right now:

W-1 Status: Those with a W-1 nonimmigrant visa would attend school to earn a bachelor’s, associate’s, vocational/technical, or advanced degree, or serve in the U.S. military for 4 years, while here on a W-1 nonimmigrant visa. A W-1 visa holder would have 6 years to get a degree; individuals in school could work while earning the degree.

Authorities on Friday blocked Stormfront, a white supremacist website based in the United States, and shut down its Italian-language forum.

They also confiscated knives, batons and baseball bats as well neo-Nazi and Fascist propaganda, including pamphlets and banners emblazoned with swastikas, in searches of properties mostly in northeastern Italy.

Prosecutors in Rome launched the investigation after the group published blacklists of religious leaders, politicians, journalists and judges citing their support of immigrants. They also published lists of prominent Jewish citizens.

Dear Secessionists: We’ll See Your Petition and Raise You | TIME.com
One of the many great things thing about America’s grand experiment in
democracy is that people are free to object to it. In the nine days since Nov.
6, more than 500,000 signatures from residents of all 50 states have appeared on
petitions demanding the right to secede from the union in light of President
Obama’s reelection.

Most of the requests, hosted on the White House’s ”We The People” online petition
website, ask that the President “peacefully grant the state of ______ [Maine, Texas, Wisconsin, etc.] to withdraw from
the United States of America and create its own NEW government.” Some even quote
the Declaration of
Independence to support their argument.

Another great thing about America, however, is that people are free to make
fun of each other — particularly of those citizens who appear to have skipped
the fourth grade class when their teachers began the chapter on the Civil War. A series
of anti-secessionist counter-petitions have sprung up on We The People, some
with thousands of signatures, expressing support for the Union or demanding
punishment for the would-be secessionists.

President Obama no longer has to worry about re-election. Now, he says he's free to pursue "comprehensive immigration reform." But what he means is an amnesty that would flood the nation with millions of new job-seekers. Stop this illegal-alien amnesty.

The talking heads in Washington are trying to sell the American people a falsehood. They say Obama's win proves that Congress simply must cave in and pass an amnesty. Don't believe it:

The toughest proponents of enforcing and improving immigration laws were nearly all re-elected. In fact, the House and Senate both have more tough enforcers now than before the election. And President Obama got nine million fewer votes in 2012 than he did in 2008.

The danger, though, is that many panicky lawmakers may be stampeded into going along with an amnesty. They'll ignore the fact that there are still eight million fewer full-time jobs than there were four years ago. And they'll ignore the weak economic growth will barely make a dent in the unemployment rate in the coming years.

They may even try to do it during the lame-duck session of Congress. Already, Republican Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor are signaling that they are willing to work on a deal. You need to tell them, "No illegal-alien amnesty!"

Don't let Congress ignore the plight of the American worker. We can win this battle. We beat back the big illegal-alien amnesty in 2007, when no one believed we could. And so many of the senators who pushed for amnesty are gone. But we have to stop the stampede.

Send Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein this urgent fax, letting them know that you won't believe any lame excuses for rewarding illegal aliens with American jobs.

Send Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein this urgent fax, letting them know that you won't believe any lame excuses for rewarding illegal aliens with American jobs.

Recent comments made by Congressional Leaders and reports from the press worry me greatly. It seems that the recent election has energized Congress' willingness to pass a mass amnesty for 12 million illegal aliens. There should be no rush to take our nation down a path with such irrevocable consequences.

First, there are 20 million Americans who can't find a full-time job, and allowing 12 million illegal aliens to join the legal work force would only make things worse. Congress needs to take actions that put unemployed Americans back to work, not take actions that make things even more difficult.

Second, Congress passed an amnesty in 1986 and all it did was create more illegal immigration. Illegal immigration can't be solved by simply passing amnesties. Instead, Congress needs to put in place sensible legislation that would end illegal immigration once and for all by ending the magnets that encourage people to come to the U.S. illegally.

Don't let the narrow results from one election cause any rash decisions. If the sudden interest in immigration reform is about bettering the lives of legal immigrants or making the United States a stronger nation, amnesty should not be the answer.

Obama won the election with a 16-point margin among moderate voters. Republican Senate candidates who represented the ideological extremes of their party -- Richard Mourdock and Todd Akin, specifically -- were soundly rejected even in states that voted for Mitt Romney by double digits. Polarizing voices such as Rep. Allen West were also retired from Congress. The hate and hyper-partisanship that has disfigured our civic debates in recent years was decisively defeated in this election.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

In the week since Election Day we’ve heard a lot about the waning of the
white majority. Bill O’Reilly kicked it off even before the race had been
called, declaring
on Fox News that “the white establishment is now the minority.” Maureen Dowd argued
a few days later that the “white male patriarchy” was in a “delusional death
spiral.” Conservatives have been fretful
about being painted into a demographic corner, and liberals gleeful
about their diverse winning coalition.

On the face of it, reports of the white establishment’s demise seem quite
premature. Most people of color remain acutely aware of the whiteness of
privilege and the privilege of whiteness. Just look at Congress, the Fed, or the
Joint Chiefs. Or think of the power brokers in your own town: the partners at
the big law firms, the attending physicians at the best hospitals. You’ll see
that the white establishment remains very much in the majority.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

In 2001, then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan estimated that undocumented immigrants paid about $70 billion annually in taxes and received about $43 billion in government services — a net benefit to American taxpayers that smashed one of the common nativist myths.

In 2005, The New York Times reported that undocumented workers contributed about $7 billion to the Social Security Administration. While ITINs are available, so are many phony Social Security numbers. With them, undocumented workers pay billions into the SSA and Medicare systems, though the many workers who leave, either of their own will or through deportation, never will collect retirement or health benefits.

By 2007, the Social Security trust fund had received a net benefit of upwards of $240 billion from "unauthorized immigrants." Two years ago, Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the SSA, told The Washington Post: "If we had not had other-than-legal immigrants in the country over the past, then these numbers suggest that we would have entered persistent shortfall of tax revenue to cover [payouts] starting [in] 2009."﻿

Monday, November 12, 2012

Fiscal Cliff Talks Will Likely Target Medicare, Social Security, Programs For The Poor
WASHINGTON -- After bailing out a global financial crisis, enacting a series of major tax cuts for the wealthy and waging two unpaid-for wars, the U.S. government is some $16 trillion in debt. Now, in exchange for paying off a bit of that debt by returning some of the tax rates to their previous levels, Democrats have offered, in a series of high-profile negotiations, to slash trillions in spending, much of it hitting the elderly, the poor and the middle class. This process of transferring wealth up the economic ladder is known in Washington as a "grand bargain."

With the election over, Democrats and Republicans will soon be back at the negotiating table, driven there by the so-called "fiscal cliff" -- the moment in January 2013 when the Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic cuts to defense and social programs take effect.

In order to avoid this scenario, President Barack Obama is proposing a grand bargain that would reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over 10 years, relying on a 3-to-1 mix of spending cuts and revenue increases.

Republicans, meanwhile, have rejected including new taxes, but are open to negotiations. What exactly will be on the table when the two sides sit down?

The recall affects Grand Cherokees from the 2002 through 2004 model years and Libertys from model years 2002 and 2003, according to documents posted Friday on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.

Chrysler, which makes Jeeps, will install an electrical filter free of charge to fix the problem. The company will begin notifying owners of the recall in January.

With 82% of the county’s precincts reporting, the self-proclaimed
“toughest sheriff” in America won a sixth term convincingly with 53% of the
vote.

Arpaio, 80, is best known for vigorously cracking down on illegal
immigrants in his county — moves that won him admirers in and outside Arizona
but also created a fissure dividing Latinos and law enforcement.

He was one of the state’s most vocal supporters of SB 1070, which
requires law enforcement officers to check the papers of anyone they suspect is
an illegal immigrant.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Immigration reformers see Obama win, Hispanic turnout as 'game-changer' - The Hill
Conservatives in Congress have successfully killed efforts to pass immigration reforms over the last decade — even when a GOP president proposed them. But Obama's dominance over Mitt Romney among Hispanic voters, advocates say, will force Republicans to accept some version of reform or risk losing national elections into the foreseeable future.

"The Republican Party has to decide: Do they want to take this issue off the table? Or do they want to be a whites-only party that will make it impossible to compete?"

White people are still very important to Democratic Party politics, providing 56 percent of Barack Obama’s vote Tuesday night. But Obama’s 39 percent of the non-Hispanic white vote is less than Michael Dukakis got, and a major party’s lowest share in history. It didn’t matter because the other ethnic groups grew as a share of an electorate and Obama won an overwhelming percentage of their votes. Key to this, of course, was the growth of the Latino vote, which has more than tripled its share of the national electorate over the past quarter century. According to exit polls 10 percent of 2012 votes came from self-identified Hispanics, and they delivered a crushing 71-27 percent edge for Obama over Mitt Romney.

The Latino vote was especially crucial in Colorado, which has in the past decade become a liberal bastion that sends two Democratic senators to Washington, has a Democratic governor, and has twice delivered its electoral votes to Obama. Fourteen percent of the state’s voters are Latino, and 75 percent of them went for Obama. In Nevada, it was 18 percent and 70 percent. In New Mexico, the 36 percent Latino electorate seems to have put the state out of reach for Republicans. More ominously for the GOP, the Latino population continues to both grow and grow more Democratic.

People are getting out to vote -- but many of them are having to wait in line for three or four hours to do so. One contributor to DailyKos claimed it took 9 hours to vote. In Miami-Dade on Saturday, people who had gotten in line by 7:00 p.m. were allowed to vote; the last person wasn't checked in until 1 a.m., meaning it took some individuals six hours to cast a ballot.

"We're looking at an election meltdown that is eerily similar to 2000, minus the hanging chads," said Dan Smith, a political science professor at the University of Florida.

And if getting turned away from the polls weren't enough of an indignity, some of those 180 people ended up getting their cars towed from the parking lot across the street, according to a Miami Herald reporter.

Friday, November 2, 2012

What if the U.S. started paying its unemployed citizens to get jobs in Canada? Far-fetched as it sounds, one Swedish town is more or less doing just that.

In an aim to cope with an unemployment rate of more than 25 percent, the town of Soderhamn, in conjunction with Sweden's national employment office, is paying young unemployed Swedes to look for jobs in neighboring Norway, according to the Daily Telegraph. The “Job Journey” program offers job-hunting guidance and pays for a one month stay at a youth hostel in Oslo. So far, about 100 young Swedes have taken the government up on its offer.

Swedes are not the only ones going to Norway for jobs though. The Norwegian unemployment rate is 2.8 percent and an estimated 25,000 jobs were available as of last January, according to the United Nations Regional Information Centre For Western Europe. The number of Greek, Spanish, and Italian immigrants to Norway is growing steadily, with Norway being described as “the promised land” for unemployed Europeans.

Your house may be in danger of exploding, but that apparently would not stop Comcast from asking for its cable box back.

Blogger Seth Clifford, writes that even though his parents' home in Mantoloking, NJ survived Hurricane Sandy, the house is still at risk of being destroyed due to a ruptured gas main on their street that is releasing fumes into the air. According to Clifford, shifting winds could cause the "entire area could ignite."

Donald Trump has been called in to campaign for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, making robo-calls for use in key swing states as well as possible public appearances in the final week before the election.

Newsmax was the first to report the news, citing sources close the Romney campaign confirming that Trump had agreed to make calls to help boost voter turnout in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin and North Carolina. The billionaire and birther enthusiast is also trying to overcome scheduling conflicts in order to make campaign stops on Romney's behalf.